The Roses of Legend
by regretmiyah
Summary: Every new adventurer chooses their path for their own reasons. But will every adventurer be willing to fight for the same reasons when life changes for the worst?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: I do not own any of the worlds, terminology, or characters that are found within the world of Ragnarok Online. They belong to Lee Myung-Jin and Gravity Corp.** **However, all original characters and ideas are my own creation. **

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**_The Roses of Legend : Prologue_******

It was a cold night in the middle of winter. The kingdom of Rune-Midgard would be celebrating tomorrow, as a new king was to be appointed. However, no matter how much the rest of the kingdom would be celebrating when the sun rose in the morning, at the moment two love stricken souls were filled with grief.

The snow was falling all around the young couple as they held each other in their arms. The young man sighed and softly lifted the girl's chin. The street lights reflected her tears, making her face glow with a sorrowful radiance.

"Please don't cry, Melody," the young man said, smiling slightly in an attempt to cheer the girl up. He turned and looked around the small town. The couple was in Lutie, the town of eternal Christmas and home of the giant Toy Factory. Here, every day of the year was filled with presents, caroling, and sleigh rides. The town was almost always filled with tourists.

In the middle of Lutie there was a giant Christmas tree that was on display every night of the year. It was under that tree that he first met the woman he loved, and it would be cruel irony that it would be near the same tree that he would have to say goodbye.

"But Aelros, once the sun rises I know that we'll never be together again. You probably won't even remember me after tomorrow," she sobbed quietly.

"That's not true and you know it. I will always remember you, and I will always miss you greatly." He hugged the girl tighter, listening to her attempts to stifle her sobs. He ran his hand down the back of her head, stroking her long, brown hair softly. He was Prince Aelros, and this time tomorrow he would be known as King Aelros. This would mean that he would not be able to be with his love, Melody, anymore. Rune-Midgard had chosen to follow the much heard of law that royalty should only marry royalty.

Melody hated this law. However, she knew that this day would come ever since she first found out that he was a prince. Still, she hadn't expected the day to come this soon.

"If only I was a high-ranking priestess, like that Kamiya is," she mumbled with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Kamiya? We've been over this," the prince sighed. "The royal family has always had the best healers to care for us. Kamiya is nothing more to me than a family friend," he explained.

It was true that the royal family had its own supply of priests. They helped take care of the family and servants, but they were not servants themselves. Kamiya was the youngest of the royal priests, being a year older than Prince Aelros. Because of their closeness of age, they were often seen together in public.

"Maybe I'll become a priestess. I know that I'll have many years of training, but if I can get good enough, maybe I can become one of the royal priestesses," she said desperately.

"Heh, that would be quite a challenge, seeing as how you are still just a novice," he said, ruffling her hair slightly.

At this comment, Melody pulled away from him.

"So, you don't think I can do it?" she asked defensively. While it was true that she was still just a novice and had not made up her mind about her job path, she felt that she could more than handle the physical and mental training she'd have to endure.

"No, that's not it!" the prince explained quickly. "It's just . . . I don't want to get my hopes up. I don't want to be waiting on a wish that will never come," he added quietly. This was not how he had hoped their potentially last meeting would go. He looked up at the sky and realized it was getting to be early in the morning.

"It's getting late, Melody. I'm going to have to go back soon . . . " His voice trailed off into nothingness. The pain in his heart was making his voice quiver, and he didn't want to make things any more sad than they already had to be. However, he knew that there was nothing he could do to stop the pain in their hearts, so he sighed and accepted it, pulling Melody into his arms once more.

Melody hugged him tightly, closing her eyes and biting her lip gently as tears began to once again stream down her cheeks. Aelros embraced her tightly. He did not want to let her go, but he knew that soon enough, he would have to.

"Before our time together is up, there is one thing I want you to have, Melody. I found this one day while I was training, and it made me think of our love. And there's no one I'd rather give this to than you." He reached into the pack hanging off of the side of his waist and pulled out a beautiful rose.

"This is . . . !" Melody gasped quietly in awe. She knew what the rose was very well. The bloom was a deep scarlet red, the color that most people associate with passion. The stem was long and sturdy, as if the flower would not crumple or bend even under intense pressure. With the snowflakes falling lightly on the petals and then melting into small drops of water, the flower looked even more beautiful than she'd ever seen in any picture.

"Aelros, this is a. . . . " her voice trailed off, trembling slightly.

"So you've heard of it before. This is called a Witherless Rose, and it's one of the roses of legend. Its bloom will never wilt, so it is used as the symbol of everlasting love. As long as you keep this rose close to your heart, you'll know that my love for you will never die." He placed the rose in her hands and leaned close to her face. She really did look beautiful, and he wished more than ever that he didn't have a trace of royalty in his blood.

Melody looked into his deep brown eyes. She knew that he was leaning close to her lips and she knew what was going to happen. The kiss came before she could take a breath in preparation, but she didn't pull away. This was the man she loved, the man she'd probably never see again. This kiss that they were sharing she'd never stop. She knew that she would never forget the way she felt as he placed his lips on hers for the first (and possibly last) time. She'd also forget neither the look on Aelros' face when the sun rose an hour later, nor the pain in her heart when they said goodbye for the final time and he crushed the butterfly wing that sent him home to Prontera.

Once he was gone, she collapsed in the snow, sobbing loudly until her voice became dry and hoarse. Clutching the rose that Aelros had given her, it was then that she made up her mind. She had decided that she was going to do whatever she could to make sure that she would spend her life next to the one she loved.


	2. An Invitation

She was dreaming again. Often times before she had this same exact dream.

"Can you hear me?" she called out to the man. He never responded, but he seemed to know she was there as he always smiled at her.

"W-wait!" she said breathlessly. He had turned away from her, walking off into a bright haze. She wanted to run after him, but she always seemed to be rooted to the spot. Looking around her surroundings, she realized the fuzziness the man had walked into was spreading. This could only mean one thing.

BONG ... BONG ... BONG ...

The city chime was going off. The bell that rung at this rhythm only went off at noon. Had she really slept so late? The young woman got out of bed and walked into her bathroom. Yawning, she looked into the mirror. Her dark brown hair was frizzy from turning in her sleep, and her left cheek was red from sleeping on her hand. She rubbed her eyes and turned on the shower faucet.

The young priestess was going to have a very busy day today, as many people from all over Rune-Midgard had requests for healing these days. She was already running late, as she was expected in Prontera Church an hour ago.

_'For being such a new priestess, they sure expect a lot out of me,_' she thought as she undressed herself and hopped into the shower.

As a priestess, her duties were to alleviate people from their pain and suffering, as well as support people in battle. She also had fought off a couple of the undead that had managed to escape from the Payon caves a couple of weeks ago. At first, everything was going good for her as she wasn't being overwhelmed. Nowadays, it was expected that by the day's end, she would have spent all of her magical strength healing others. It was a fact that she would always be so exhausted when she walked through her door.

When she stepped out of the shower, she heard that someone was knocking on her door. Quickly throwing her priestess uniform, she ran to the door, opening it in a hurry.

"Hello there, Miss…Faye,"a knight said cheerfully as he looked down at an envelope in his hand. "Lovely weather, eh?" he asked.

"Err, yes, lovely..." she replied, blushing slightly. The postman from this section of Prontera was a young knight, also new at his job. Faye had seen him once before when she had become a priestess, and she found him extremely handsome.

"I came to deliver this to you. It's a letter from the church of Prontera," he said.

"Oh?" While she knew that she was late, she did not expect to be sent a letter from the Church. She also remembered that it was usually the head priest that sent out letters that were directly from the Church, as the organization didn't usually send out letters to people. She slowly took the letter from the knight and started to open it.

"Before you read it, you should know that I am expected to return with a reply."

This statement confused Faye. Usually when the Church sent out letters, they would expect you to reply in person. If they were wanting a reply sent, that must mean that the head priest wasn't going to be at the Church like she would expect.

"Excuse me for asking, but is the head priest not at the Prontera Church? I mean, otherwise I could just respond in person, right?"

At this question, the knight shifted his body weight uncomfortably. He seemed to be thinking what the best thing to say would be.

"I'm sorry, priestess," he sighed. "I'm afraid I don't know much myself. But I would wager that the best source of information would be that letter you're holding," he stated.

"I see," Faye said and looked down at the letter as she finished opening it. She felt herself let out a small sigh of relief, as it wasn't from the head priest as she thought. The letter was instead from Rykan, one of the priests who usually led the training of novices and acolytes who were aspiring to become priests. It was Rykan who had helped her overcome the trials of the test one takes when being inducted to priesthood.

_"Dearest Faye,_

_I must say that I am thoroughly impressed with the levels of strength and passion you have shown since you have become a priestess. As a member of the training council, unfortunately, I see many new priests break down from the new pressures they are required to deal with. When a new priest or priestess has spirit and determination such as yours, we watch them closely to see if they harbor certain qualities and the sense of duty that a Priest of Council must contain. I am sure that you know you have shown more of these qualities than any of the other priests that were inducted around the same time as you. _

_I am writing this letter to you to inform you that you have been approved by the Council to undergo a test of character. This test will show us if you are indeed capable of being a member in one of the many councils for the Church of Prontera. At this point, you might be feeling a little nervous and overwhelmed. I ask you not to feel this way. The tests are not difficult, and do not forget that you can always decline this offer._

_I hope that you will choose to do whatever you are most comfortable with. Please do not feel obligated to do this if it is not something you wish to do. I ask that you please send a response back indicating whether or not you are intending to take part in the test._

_I look forward to your response._

_Member of the Council of Training,_

_Rykan Tildur"_

Faye looked up from the letter and looked at the knight. He surely didn't know what was in the letter, yet he was smiling at her. She suddenly became aware that her hands were trembling slightly and she had a small smile on her face as well.

"I'm sorry, but I need a while to think. If you could come back later, perhaps…" she said. It was true that she needed time to think, and she didn't think it fair if the knight had to stand there waiting while she thought.

"Sure, no problem. Should I return in two hours?" he asked, politely.

"Yes, two hours seems fine. I'm sorry about all this trouble," she apologized. Faye knew that this knight's duties included postal work, but he was indeed still a knight of Prontera, and was expected to do many other duties that were more important than waiting on her to make up her mind about something.

"It's no trouble at all, Miss Faye," he said. He turned and was about to head off when he heard her start to speak.

"Wait a moment, please. We weren't ever properly introduced," she chuckled. "My name is Faye. But of course, you already knew that…" she felt herself blush slightly as she realized that he already knew her name since it was on the envelope.

"Haha, it's a pleasure to meet you, Faye! My name is Lestur." He extended his hand towards her and they shook hands. "Well, I should head off now and give you time to think about your letter. I'll return in two hours, don't forget!" he said and headed off.

Faye smiled and walked back inside her house.

'_Lestur. What a nice name. Then again, he was very nice in general,_' she thought. She walked over to her table and sat down in one of the chairs. While she was in a good mood from the visit, she had something important to think about right now. Something that could change her future.

She read the letter over once more and sighed. While it was true that she hadn't broken down from the new pressures of priesthood yet, she felt that she was probably pretty close to it. When she had helped the other priests control the skeletons and zombies that were leaving Payon caves, she returned home that night feeling extremely drained and slightly afraid at the undead rebellion, as they usually just wandered around the caves and never ventured out into the open.

A part of Faye's conscience felt that because she had felt drained and a little afraid, she didn't deserve to be a member of the Council. She felt that she couldn't compare to the other high-ranking priests that carried out their duties, especially since the list of duties always seemed endless. Then again, another part of her felt that she deserved it more than any of the other priests and priestesses that achieved their rank around the same time she did. However, she didn't like to think about that too much, because it made Faye feel like she was arrogant and selfish.

She continued to dwell on these two sides of herself for nearly the full two hours. Looking up at her clock, she realized she only had five more minutes to decide what she was going to do.

'I guess I'll take part in the test. I'll see if I'm capable, and if I am, then I'll accept. I wouldn't be able to pass the test if I wasn't able to handle it. And, if I don't pass... then I'll just have to train harder.' Reassuring herself made her feel much better about her decision to accept the invitation.

She sat down at her table and grabbed the notepad and pen she kept on the table near the window. Seeing as how she only had a few moments to write the letter, she decided to make it short and to the point.

"_Dear Rykan,_

_I have decided to accept your invitation of taking the test. I look forward to further information._

_Faye Dhrista"_

Two minutes later, she heard a loud knock at the door. Opening it quickly, she smiled as she saw that it was Lestur returning for her response.

"Hello there, Miss Faye! I'm sure you know why I'm here," he said as he chuckled softly.

She laughed softly and smiled at him. "Indeed, I do. I've just finished writing my reply. Again, I'm sorry that you had to wait for me to make up my mind, Lestur," she apologized as she handed him the letter she'd written.

"It's really no trouble at all," he replied in a soft voice as he took the letter from her. He assumed it was priestly nature to be kind and humble, but he didn't want the priestess to feel like she was being a burden on him. "Well, I'd better get back to the Church and deliver this now. It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Faye."

"It was nice to meet you too, Lestur. I hope that we meet again." After he left, she closed the door and sighed. As she walked through the kitchen, she noted that her clock read it was almost 3 p.m. The Church didn't usually have priests report for duty this late in the afternoon unless they were needed specifically or were one of the night-time priests, so she decided that she would just continue to take the day off.

Faye walked to her bedroom door and stopped. It would seem like such a big waste if she just sat around the house all day. Since she wasn't going to go to the Church and report for duty today, she decided that she would just walk around Prontera and see if anything was happening. She grabbed her knapsack off of her bedside table, folded up a Saint's Robe and put it in her sack, and stashed a few thousand zeny in one of the pouches. She headed out the front door and locked it behind her. While there wasn't too much crime in the city, it wasn't unheard of that someone had been robbed of a few valuables or a sum of zeny every now and then, so Faye had made it a habit of double checking her door while leaving to make sure it was locked.

As soon as she stepped out of the door, she heard the usual bustling sound of the city being packed with people. She could also hear music coming from the direction of North Square, so she assumed there must be a show going on. It was quite common for the local bards and dancers to show off their skills to the citizens, performing either solo or together as an ensemble.

Faye's first stop would be the upgrade shop. She had recently bought the Saint's Robe and since it needed upgraded, the only place to go was to Hollengrhen's. Hollengrhen was the chief Armsmith, though from the usual bout of angry and disappointed customers, it seemed like he should spend his time training rather than boasting and breaking people's equipment.

Faye lived on the road that stretched from the main Square all the way to Prontera's West Gate. Her house was located in what people called the 'Inner City,' as there was a wall built around the inner area of the city. From her house, it was only a short walk to the city sponsored shops that were found around Main Square, such as the weapon and armor dealer, the tool shop, the Armsmith, and Pet Merchant who had a limited supply of pet armor and pet food. She walked east to the square and opened the door to Hollengrhen's shop, stepping in line behind a novice. At the counter was a blacksmith who was obviously enraged, most likely over freshly broken equipment.

"Damnit, Hollengrhen!" the blacksmith shouted as he pounded his fist on the counter. "That's the third one in a row you've broken!"

The man behind the counter brushed a few strands of brown hair out of his eyes and sighed. "It seems that my skills have gotten rusty... but I **did** warn you about it," he stated, defending himself.

"Indeed, your skills are rusty, you poor excuse of an Armsmith! You're lucky that you have no competition in this town, or else they'd run you into the ground!" the man shouted. He grabbed his zeny pouch angrily and stormed out of the shop.

'_Poor Hollengrhen. I wonder how many angry customers he has to deal with every day_,' Faye wondered to herself.

"Next!" he shouted cheerfully, as if he wasn't bothered at all from the man's angry outburst. The novice stepped closer to the counter and presented him with a small dagger.

"Ah, a main gauche. This hasn't been upgraded yet, so I can upgrade it quite a bit still without breaking it," he told the girl.

"That's fine," the novice responded. Faye noticed that the girllooked quite a bit older than most novices, and she didn't have the quiet and inexperienced nature the voices new adventurers often had.

"Alrighty, you'll need seven phracon to be used for the upgrading process, and 350 zeny to cover the labor cost."

The novice reached into her knapsack and handed him the materials and zeny. "Here you go, sir," she said, smiling.

Hollengrhen took the phracon and laid one piece of it on top of the main gauche. He grabbed his specialized upgrading hammer and pounded the weapon, molding the phracon on the blade of the dagger. He repeated this until he had used up all seven phracon, and smiled at his work. In actuality, the novice's main gauche was a guaranteed success, as the chance of a weapon or armor breaking is dependant on how much it's been upgraded before.

"**Haha!** It seems my skills haven't gotten rusty yet! Splendid, just splendid." He handed the newly upgraded weapon back to the novice and smiled. "Be careful with it now!"

"I will be. And thank you again for upgrading it. Bye-bye!" She turned and walked out of the upgrade shop. Faye stepped up to the counter and smiled at Hollengrhen.

"Why, hello there, Faye! What a pleasant surprise!" he said happily. Faye was quite familiar with Hollengrhen, as she often visited back when she was a novice, and later as an acolyte. She had often went in asking for cheap weapons and armor to be upgraded. "Needing something upgraded?"

"Actually, yes," she replied as she handed him the Saint's Robe. "I know it's not upgraded, but I don't have enough elunium to get me to the safe limit. Just upgrade it once, please."

"Okay. That will be one elunium for the upgrading process, and five thousand zeny to cover the costs," he estimated, taking the robe from her.

"I've got it all ready." Faye placed the elunium and the zeny on the counter. She watched as he placed the elunium on the robe and pounded, the same way as he did with the novice's knife. It was curious how a robe could have materials pounded on it the same way as a weapon.

"And another success!" he boomed, handing the robe back to Faye.

"Thanks Hollengrhen. Have a good day!" She put the robe in her knapsack and walked out of the shop. She was starting to feel a little hungry, so she looked around for a merchant selling food. Luckily for her, there was a food merchant by the fountain, selling bread and spices. She bought a small loaf of bread and walked toward North Square, eating her snack quickly. The smaller North square was just a short way north of the main square. It's main feature was a statue of a pair of hands shaking. Though she had lived in Prontera all her life, Faye wasn't sure what the meaning of the statue was. Perhaps she would find out someday.

As Faye got closer, she could see that there was a bard and a dancer performing together. When she arrived, she immediately recognized the duet as Celeste and Oliver, a dancer and bard pair that had been promoted from archers shortly before Faye had finished her acolyte training. In fact, Faye had once partied with the pair as their support. The two were hunting greatest generals, which were tall wooden poles that were great targets for archers. However, the forests outside of Payon are also home to many stronger monsters, so they had asked Faye to team with them as their healer. While they had an enjoyable time together and had become friends, the archers had wanted to move on to harder places. Faye hadn't been trained enough to be much help where they were planning on going, so they were forced to disband the party.

There was already a crowd around the duo, so Faye stood beside a male rogue and a female alchemist whom neither of them she recognized. Celeste and Oliver were performing an ensemble called Classical Pluck, which was very popular in and out of the battlefield. Celeste was a very skilled dancer, and Oliver was a very skilled bard; all of her dance moves were in perfect harmony with Oliver's music. When the song was over, the crowd broke into an applause and the pair bowed. Apparently they were done performing, because they sat down on one of the benches away from the crowd.

"Celeste! Oliver!" she shouted happily, walking over to where they were sitting. "What a wonderful performance! It's been awhile since we last saw each other," she said.

"Faye!" Celeste and Oliver shouted simultaneously. "It's good to see you again," Oliver added.

"Likewise," said Faye. "I was just wandering around Prontera to see if anything was happening. What a strange coincidence!"

"I don't believe in coincidences. It must have been Fate," Celeste stated mysteriously. At this, Oliver laughed.

"Ah, Celeste. You and your mystical beliefs," he chuckled. "So, what has Miss Faye been up to lately? Anything interesting?" He didn't seem to notice that Celeste was now glaring at him.

"Not much out of the ordinary, no. Well, today I did get an letter from the Priest Council." She glanced at them and saw that they both had eyebrows raised. "It's possible that I may be invited to join them," she explained hastily. She didn't want it to sound like she was getting reprimanded so soon into her new profession.

Neither of them spoke for a few moments, and Faye began to wonder if she had somehow said something to offend them. No sooner than she had thought this, however, Celeste and Oliver had started congratulating her.

"That's great news!" Celeste said with a huge smile. Oliver nodded and clapped her on the back. "You'll get in with them, I'm sure of it," he grinned.

"Thanks, but I'm not sure if--" she started to say. She didn't get a chance to finish, as Oliver and Celeste stood up quickly.

"There will be none of that! You can't start thinking negatively. Instead, let's celebrate!" Celeste exclaimed and tugged on Faye's hand, pulling her up.

Celeste walked back to the middle of the square and began to dance while Oliver began plucking the strings on his guitar. Faye knew this song as well -- Lady Luck. The dance lifted people's spirits and gave them luck in the battlefield. Celeste slowly danced over to Faye and pulled her over to the middle of the square, laughing.

"Dance with me, Faye! Feel the luckiness flow into your body," she smiled, still dancing.

Faye blushed a bit and reluctantly started copying Celeste's body movements. She immediately felt impressed at how skilled Celeste was at dancing, for she felt clumsy and often missed motions that seemed to go to Celeste naturally. It soon didn't matter how bad Faye was though, as her mood suddenly turned to wonderful. She began to laugh, and very quickly the laughter spread to Oliver and Celeste. The small crowd around them also started to laugh, as if the laughter was infectious.

The two kept dancing until the sun had set, with Oliver as their musician. After a large round of applause from the audience that remained, Faye decided that it was finally time to go home and bade her two friends farewell. She returned home with a huge smile on her face and quickly changed into pajamas. Falling heavily into bed, she reflected on how much fun she had had, and how she had been surprised at the few people who had cheered her on. She closed her eyes and soon fell into a deep sleep, with thoughts of the Priest Council's invitation all but forgotten in her mind.


End file.
